THE HEALING POWER OF METAPHOR

The f i e l d o f m e d i c i n e i s p r i m a r i l y a b s t r a c t . T h a t i s why the l a n g u a g e u s e d i s f u n d a m e n t a l l y m e t a p h o r i c . Many med ica l m e t a p h o r s a r e i n s t i n c t i v e l y d r a w n f r o m t h e f a m i l i a r o u t e r world o f t h e s e n s e s . F o r e x a m p l e , p a i n i s d e s c r i b e d a s b u r n i n g , s t a b b i n g , knifelike, vicelike, crvsMnff. I n t h i s w a y , metaphor makes t a n g i b l e t h e i n t a n g i b l e a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e m i n d . ( D o n n e l l y 1 9 8 9 : 1 3 3 ) . P a t i e n t s r o u t i n e l y u s e m e t a p h o r s . Many o f t h e s e h a v e t o d o w i t h s p a t i a l o r i e n t a t i o n . F o r e x a m p l e , when we f e e l h e a l t h y , we a r e 1 ( a ) i n t i p top c o n d i t i o n , K b ) i n t h e peak o f h e a l t h , 1 ( c ) o n top f o r m , 1 ( d ) o n top o f t h e w o r l d o r 1 ( e ) i n high s p i r i t s . When we become i l l , we 2 ( a ) f a l l i l l , 2 ( b ) f e e l down i n t h e dumps, 2 ( c ) we sink i n t o a coma, 2 ( d ) go downhill o r 2 ( e ) drop d e a d . (Some o f t h e e x a m p l e s a r e f r o m H o d g k i n 1 9 8 5 : 1 8 2 0 , Hughes 1 9 8 7 : 8 7 a n d Way 1 9 9 1 : 7 ) . S icJo iess i s t h u s o r i e n t a t e d down, w h i l e h e a l t h i s u p . These c o n c e p t s a r e r o o t e d i n p h y s i c a l e x p e r i e n c e a n d a r e b a s e d on L a k o f f a n d J o h n s o n ' s " g o o d i s u p / b a d i s down" m e t a p h o r . The p h y s i c a l b a s t s i s t h a t s e r i o u s i l l n e s s f o r c e s us t o l i e down. http://spilplus.journals.ac.za


(Cousins 1983 : 228) .
This belief that disease is an external force that must be conquered and driven out has given rise to the military metaphor.
• .There is a mapping of structure from a source domain (war) onto

BANGEMS OF METAPHOR
The automatic way in which we use metaphor, however, hides the inherent dangers in its use."themselves ill with organic manifestations.There is little argu"'®"'-a^iout the negative power of the imagination on health.For example, it is negative to believe that cancer is synonymous with death.

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Cancer is a disease that may or may not be fatal.
It is therefore important to believe that cancer is not the enemy but that  Treatment aims to kill cancer cells.

CONCLUSION
iiease" used to refer to a disease, but today, some dictionaries l^gt "case" as a medical or surgical patient.
, dramatic example is an account of a woman who was in low-Sade heart failure but whose condition was not critical.Cancer, more than any other life-threatening disease, conjures up primordial images.These images integrate and express cultural perceptions of cancer.
He trained rats to associate an initial stimulus with a subsequent event.
In this case, they "learned" to depress their immune system.This experiment supported S I Metal'nikov's precept that the central nervous system could influence the vigour of the immune system.(Hall 1989:66), 10.With the Image-Ca technique, after relaxation, a tape is played to the patient which explains, by means of the military metaphor, how their immune system works: the body is a marvellous machine with built-in devices for protecting itself.
It has white blood cells that attack and kill the cancer abnormal cells that enter it.
The white blood cells, which hei^ to protect the body against disease, are very powerful, becoitiino acive and guarding and protecting the person by attacking gj^? abnormal cells and the tumour.
They must be seen doing their job, like experts, destroying the cancer cells, keeping the boflv healthy and disease-free.^ 11.The term "remission" is used to describe a situation where the symptoms of the disease have disappeared and the patient appears to be cured.
from the outside as a type of hostile organism is so ingrained in us that we naturally depend on outside forces to •figft it and evict or "get rid" of it (Hodgkin 1985:1820) .Few of us have any faith in the body's own ability to fight disease.
fighting cancer or death is life-affirming:the fight is ndt'^ with death, but for life.
' surveillance team' or white blood cells in the form of a great army perform the function of transporting the dead cancer cells through the blood, liver and the kidneyscertain beneficial side effect -and it does, evenChough there is no medication in the pill that can produce it.Theonly active ingredient in the treatment appears to be the power of the belief -the positive expectations -

Metaphors have entailments through which they focus on one aspect of a concept, and, at the same time, obscure other aspects of the concept that are either inconsistent with that metaphor (Lakoff and Johnson 1980:10/156)
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nrtt reflect the attitude or moral values of the speaker,
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and Johnson 1980:12/13) . it is therefore important to examine the underlying assumptions C)f metaphor. (Carter and McCullough 1989:9). Once the •"blinders" are removed, many interesting and potentially important questions are open to us. (Caster and Gatens-Robinson 11983:1841) . For example, by illuminating some aspects of the topic and obscuring others, the MEDICINE IS WAR metaphor can create the • role that the physician must play. (Hodgkin 1985:1820). if "physicians wage war on death, it permits the delusion that they may be victorious (Bumside 1983:2091): the physician is the victor, the one who conquers disease as well as pain and suffering. (Reich 1989:90). This view has been encouraged by society because it fits the notion that physicians are in charge. (Burnside 1983:2091) . When there is a war, the generals give the orders. However, one could beg the question: exactly who is the enemy? (Donnelly 1986:83). The MEDICINE IS WAR metaphor has other serious implications. The patient is forced to take a passive role and the main protagonists are physicians and diseases. Patients become containers into which medicine may be poured or from which organs are removed. The patient becomes less important than the disease itself. (Hodgkin 1985:1821). S/he also fails to take responsibility for his/her own health. The full complexity of the patient is lost by the BODY AS MACHINE/BODY AS CONTAINER metaphors (Carter 1989 :158) because the subjective dimension of disease is hidden. (Rossman in Sheikh
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When the ' -i^Eian's belief system supports the metaphor that the disease " fwithout, that it is synonymous with death, that the aatttent is inadequate, and the patient has little or nothing tisS can do to fight the disease, the physician may give up
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